Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The ALA-LC Romanization tables are developed jointly by the Library of Congress (LC) and the American Library Association (ALA). Romanization schemes enable the cataloging of foreign language materials. Romanized cataloging in turn supports circulation, acquisitions, serials check-in, shelflisting, shelving, and reference, particularly in library catalogs that are unable to display non-roman alphabet information.

The ALCTS Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA) recently reviewed and approved a proposal from LC for a new Cherokee romanization table. It has been subsequently approved by the Cherokee Tri-Council meeting in Cherokee, North Carolina. (Press coverage of the meeting is available online.) This is the first ALA-LC romanization table for a Native American syllabary.